1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of dog leash constructions in general and in particular to a hands free dog leash retaining device that is releasably secured to the user""s person.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,839,394; 5,915,336; 6,082,308; 5,842,444; and, 5,950,569, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse dog leash related arrangements.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical hands free dog leash retaining device.
As most dog owners are all too well aware, at least one of their hands will always be occupied with the task of maintaining control of the dog leash while walking their pet thereby making other tasks such as carrying packages or dialing a cell phone very difficult, if not impossible to accomplish.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among dog owners for a new and improved hands free dog leash retaining device which is worn on their wrist and adapted to releasably engage the looped handle on the proximal end of a dog leash; and, the provision of such an arrangement is the stated objective of the present invention.
Briefly stated, the hands free leash retaining device that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a wrist engaging unit and a leash engaging unit wherein the wrist engaging unit is adapted to releasably engage the user""s wrist and the leash engaging unit is fixedly secured to the wrist engaging unit to form a generally cruciform configuration and is adapted to releasably engage the looped handle on the proximal end of a dog leash.
As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, both the wrist engaging unit and the leash engaging unit include strap members arranged in a generally cruciform configuration relative to one another wherein, each of the strap members is further provided with a pair of cooperating fasteners adapted to form loop openings that captively yet releasably surround the user""s wrist and the looped handle of a dog leash respectively so that both of the user""s hands are free to perform other functions while still maintaining control over the dog leash.